Armonite: A Musical Fantasy: And The Stars Above

Italian duo, Armonite has recently released ‘And The Stars Above’, a vibrant journey into a musical phenomena, flavored with haunting compositions and laced with classical EDM, the album is receiving extraordinary reviews…globally.

Mastermind Paolo Fosso, a classically trained instrumentalist and composer, was kind enough to allow us to venture into his realm of musical insanity, while the entire planet is enjoying his music.

Your video was recently released… what’s the name of it and can you talk about it a little?

‘By heart’ was released on April 10 with the participation of the amazing dancer / choreographer Cristina De Rosa. The track includes a folk, medieval-flavored melody for acoustic/electric violin and ROLI Seaboard Rise with a strong electronic component, but no set pattern for bass and drums, which were recorded by Alberto Fiorani and Emiliano Cava. Cristina has been a great partner to work with, she choreographed and performed the whole track. We’re definitely happy with the final result, the video goes from a tranquil state over an opening heartbeat to a fusion of EDM and Trip-Hop.

Watch the video for ‘By Heart’ here:

With the release of the new album and the flawlessly successful reviews, do you plan a tour in support of the album?

Sure, we’ll be touring starting mid-September. Our show is a mix between originals from our albums and covers in violin rock. We’ve published the videos of a few soundtrack renditions from the most popular video games and movies: Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, The Exorcist, Suspiria, Skyrim, Final Fantasy, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, The Witcher and many others. Follow us on Facebook for new dates!

Please remind us of the album’s theme so to speak musically.

As with the previous album, ‘And the Stars Above’ is an instrumental mix of electric violin, keyboards, bass and drums. But the sound of this album is more oriented to soundtrack music with textures that feel very immediate. It’s a journey through 12 tracks, starting with ‘The March of the Stars’ inspired by Dante’s Paradise and ending with ‘Ghosts.’ The album also features two bonus tracks — a piece for piano solo, ‘The Fire Dancer’, and the string quartet, ‘A Playful Day.’ We’re confident this is going to be a great release, with a rather peculiar view. ‘The Sun Is New Each Day’ had a heavy compact sound. ‘And the Stars Above‘ is groovy, with different vibes across a bunch of genres. There’s something indie in this new sound that we’ve never explored before.

If you could be asked any question in the world, what would you want me to ask you and how would you answer it?

I’d want you to ask me “Why do you compose?”, and I would say “So that I don’t need words to answer” [laughs].

What has been your favorite reaction or response from the outside world regarding the new release?

A few people told me our album made them cry. I’m surprised, but also very gratified. That’s the kind of reaction every artist would like to raise, it means you get to people. It’s always the most important goal. Also, with the track ‘Blue Curaçao’ included in our new album, we’ve been awarded an Honorable Mention both in the Instrumental and Performance categories at the International Songwriting Competition 2017 from a top level jury including Tom Waits, Lorde, Bastille, Billy Cobham, Ziggy Marley, Don Omar, and Keane. With over 16,000 entries from 140 countries, this is a remarkable achievement of which we’re extremely proud.

Although you’ve recently just dropped this release, are you currently working on a new project?

I’m producing a few demo tracks for the movie industry. Scoring for film and TV is my absolute dream job. Then, after the ‘And the Stars above’ promotional tour, I’ll start composing for next Armonite’s work. I have a few ideas that need to be developed, I promise it’s going to be a totally new surprise!